NEW KEYS CLUB 

'Real People. Real Possibilities.

Two sisters came to me with a pretty simple goal: they wanted to buy a home together.

The road there was anything but simple.

They were first-time buyers; they had a whole family to think about, and they were not starting from some perfect little real-estate checklist. They had a dream, they had a budget, and we had to figure out the rest.

So we started looking.

We saw a lot more houses than I’m going to put into one blog post, but a few of them tell the story pretty well.

The First House Felt Like the Dream

The first house that really got everybody excited had land, character, room for animals, room for kids, and room for the life they were imagining. They could see themselves there. It needed work but that was OK.

We wrote the offer.

And we got beat by cash.

That one hurt.

Anyone who has lost a house they really wanted knows that strange little grief that comes with it. But because I prepped them up to expect this kind of thing on their budget- you don’t own the house, you’ve barely known it, and yet somehow you’ve already pictured your life there.

But we weren’t done. They were prepared to move on.

There Was Even a Funky Church with a great view we checked out

At one point, we toured an old church that sold practically before we could turn around. One sister thought it was interesting. The other was completely creeped out.

I believe there was some discussion about whether there might be dead people somewhere on the property.

I was pretty sure that was a no-go.

And on we went.

Then We Found Another One — and They Loved It Too

The next serious contender was a manufactured home, and they loved this one too. Even after the inspections started uncovering problem after problem, they were still trying to figure out how to make it work.

There were roof issues. Electrical issues. Deck and stair repairs. Plumbing. Appliances. Cleanup. The list kept growing.

But they could see past the problems. They could still see themselves living there, and for a while we were talking about what could be repaired, what could be negotiated, and what they were willing to take on.

Then we hit something no repair request could solve.

The home had been moved too many times in its history, and the loan program they needed would not finance it.

That was a very different kind of heartbreak.

They didn’t walk away because they suddenly stopped loving the house. They walked away because, despite everything they were willing to work through, they couldn’t get the loan on that particular home.

There were tears. Real tears.

Sometimes the home-buying process gives you information you simply cannot negotiate around. As painful as it was, we had to let that one go too.

So we started again.

And Then Came the House They Actually Bought

This was the fun part.

The drive in was beautiful. The property had flat, usable land buffered against a large area of forest. The house showed well. It was staged, and almost immediately they started doing what buyers do when something clicks: talking about where things would go and if they wanted the staging because it was so nice.

Who would use which room.

The kitchen's assets and a pantry with a door! A storage room for food! A separate garage!

What they could do with the land.

How they could change things later.

What they liked.

What they didn’t.

They weren’t standing there trying to convince themselves to buy it. They were already imagining living there.

That is a very different feeling.

And this time they made it through.

Two Sisters. They Got the Keys Together.

 

After losing one.

After loving another one enough to try to work through a long list of problems — only to discover the financing could not be done because of a title issue.

After the weird houses, the bidding war, the inspections, the paperwork, the tears, and the laughs.

They finally got the keys.

That’s What the New KEYS Club Is About

 

I created the New KEYS Club for people who want to own a home but may not know yet exactly how they’re going to get there.

I work with tenants who want to set the goal and buy. I work with first-time buyers of every age and from every kind of starting point. Some people come to me ready to write an offer. Some need six months. Some need a year or two. Some need to work on credit, save money, talk to a lender, or simply understand what buying a house actually involves before they can decide whether they’re ready.

We start there.

I teach a one-hour First-Time Homebuyer Action Plan, with a lender there to just simply discuss your situation and make a plan, and the Dream Home Team gives us a whole group of good people to call on when we need them when they are ready.

I believe that if you have the knowledge and ability to help someone move forward, you have a responsibility to use it.

Homeownership  defines  the baseline of  the American dream. Not because everybody needs some perfect suburban house with a white picket fence. That’s not the point.

It’s about having a place to call home and love. Putting down roots. Creating some stability. Building equity. Becoming part of a community. Having something that is yours and, hopefully, something that gives the people who come after you a better place to start.

Every buyer’s story is different.

This one happened to include three serious houses, one creepy church, a bidding war, an escrow that could not make it through financing, quite a few tears, a lot of laughter, and eventually a set of keys.

Not bad.

Real People. Real Possibilities.

Set the goal. Get the house. Together.

Heather Wakefield
Associate Broker | Luxe Places International Realty
DRE #01924828
707-872-7744
www.HeatherWakefield.com